Hi Jan_25

We have been using netafim irrigation for about 3 years and it is excellent! We use it mainly to get hedges established. We run black polypipe along the row of plants and then insert a plastic red thing (whatever its called) near the base of each plant, attach the brown irrigation pipe to the red thing and lay it in a circle around the bush, cut to length and bend the end over and secure with a small piece of poly pipe circle. We have used the brown pipe with both 15cm drip spacings and 30cm drip spacings. The former is harder to find as it is regarded as home garden stuff and serious irrigation shops tend not to stock it. The brilliant thing is that the drip holes appear never to block up from season to season. The only maintenence problem I have is if I catch the brown pipe with the whipper snipper - it usually breaks off the red thing which is easily replaced. Once the hedge is established, we pull up the whole thing and reuse it. Even if the red things are wrongly spaced for the next job, you can seal off the ones you don't want by attaching a small piece of the brown pipe with no drip holes in it, bend it over and secure with a small poly circle as before. Hope this has been of help!

I'm thinking of it too, Jan! So far this seems to be the one that everyone is recommending. But I'm getting conflicting advice on whether or not I can put mulch (lucerne/sugar cane) over the top of this kind of drip irrigation. I don't want it to be visible, but I don't know whether it will block up ... can anyone advise?

I am pretty sure that it won't block up - not even if you buried it in soil.. the dripper holes are sort of inset and don't seem to get blocked, at least not in the years I have had it.